Sep 8, 2009

Gazpacho is a chilled soup traditionally from Spain, a perfect way to use up end-of-summer vegetables in your garden.

It is traditionally made with tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers but you can get creative and make variations. For a Mexican Gazpacho you can add avocado, cilantro and jalapeño, for an Italian Gazpacho add fresh basil and Parmigiano Reggianno. Personally... I prefer my soup spicy with jalepeños, cilantro and avocado. How do you like your gazpacho?

Place tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, garlic, salt, pepper and vinegar in the blender until smooth. Chill in refrigerator 1/2 hour. Pour into two large bowls and top with 1 tsp olive oil in each bowl, chopped red onion, salt and pepper plus toppings (shaved parmesan or avocado if using). Serve with good crusty bread.

I love gazpacho! I like to throw everything in a blender and let it chill. When I am being extremely lazy, I'll take a can of V-8, add some cut up veggies and wa la! I like green onions on it sometimes too. I love avocados, so I will definitely have to try that!

I LOVE Kosher salt! It has a nice little crunch to it. There are many kinds of salts, such as pink salts, black salts, and other colors, made from different parts of the worlds. You can find grinders at your International and gourmet stores as well as Ross and Marshalls. Alton Brown of Good Eats-Food Network does a whole program on salts and the history of them.

I really loved this recipe - it was delicious, and I didn't even put any toppings on it. I will definitely make it again and again and will try some toppings! Thanks for another tasty and super healthy recipe.

I LOVE GAZPACHO. My grandmother is Mexican, and my mom makes it by the bucketful when our tomatoes start coming in full swing! My mom uses a food processor and keeps the veggies still kind of cubed, so there's more texture to it. We eat it plain with a slice of bread - Mom has to stand guard in front of the fridge while it chills so my sisters and I don't stick our fingers in it!

Just ate lunch at a little out of the way mexican restaurant in PA and ordered a cup of gazpacho...it was delicious and I remarked to my husband "it tastes jut like my gazpacho." Here is a little tip. Never throw out your leftover salad. I make salad with romaine, or whatever lettuce I have on hand, tomatoes, peppers, onions, etc. and always dress it with oil and vinegar dressing. Leave it in the fridge overnight and the next day after, just pulse it in your blender or food processor and make it chunky--add more tomatoes, hot sauce, whatever. The flavor from the salad sitting overnight is fantastic. A little dollop of avocado mash or sour cream or both and it's the best you'll ever have. The vinegar adds zip.